ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Al Borges learned a long time ago to shut out criticism.

Now in his third season as Michigan’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Borges presides over a unit that is getting worse as the season winds down. And as the Wolverines decry a laundry list of mistakes that defy easy elimination, Borges said yesterday he remains mostly blind to outside critics.

“If I internalized everything a fan said, I’d slit my wrists,” said Borges, who remembered canceling a newspaper subscription in 1993 when his Boise State offense struggled. “You can’t do that. This job is about being thick-skinned. We win games and people still complain. That’s the nature of the job.”

Borges’ problem is that, in losing three of their past four games, the Wolverines are seeing less from their offense. After starting 6-1 while averaging 446.4 yards of total offense, Michigan has averaged 216.5 yards in its past four games. All four games have come after the Wolverines put up a program-record 751 yards in a 63-47 win against Indiana on Oct. 19.

Performances like that give the coaching staff hope, even on Saturday against a powerful team like No. 3 Ohio State, Borges said.

“Every time you turn around and go through your play-kill list, a lot of different names are popping up,” he said. “Some of it is experience, some of it is not being in sync. That’s my responsibility. There’s a darn good offense that hasn’t shown up in a while.”

Michigan’s average of 362.8 yards of total offense is 10th in the Big Ten, the lowest for each figure since Brady Hoke took over as coach in 2011.

For that, the running game is largely to blame: Michigan’s average of 128.8 rushing yards is second-worst in the Big Ten, nearly 60 yards lower than last season’s average and the lowest figure since the 1999 team averaged 121.8 rushing yards. Twice this season, the Wolverines have had negative rushing yards.

It’s a downward spiral that left quarterback Devin Gardner fighting back tears Saturday after a 24-21 loss at Iowa. It also has led to widespread criticism of an offensive unit that Hoke said is not easily fixed.

“The rhythm you need to have has to be more consistent,” Hoke said. “I don’t think we’ve made a consistent jump (on offense) the way we have on defense.”

As a result, Borges said the offensive coaches have scaled back the playbook in the past few games to help the Wolverines play faster. But Borges said the same mistakes are showing up on game film, some of which also happen during practice.

Borges, 58, has a long career as an offensive coordinator. He first worked for Hoke at San Diego State from 2009 to ’10, and his earlier stops included Auburn (2004-07), Indiana (2002-03) and UCLA (1996-2000).

Senior receiver Jeremy Gallon said Borges is not showing any signs of outside pressure getting to him.

“One thing I can honestly say is I’ve never seen anything from the outside get to him,” Gallon said. “Anything that comes from outside, I think he really can’t care less about … and he preaches that to us. There’s a lot of negative things coming from the fans to the players.”

But even if Borges is not affected by his critics, he is certainly aware of them.

“I promise you that other places that I’ve been, my first name has been a cuss word,” he said. “This isn’t the first place that has been like that. That’s just what goes along with the job. You’re never going to make everybody happy. You do your best to help your team win. That’s all.”